Cognitive Processing of High-Functioning Autistic Children: Comparing The K-ABC and the WISC-R

Abstract

The K-ABC was administered to 21 autistic children, and scores were examined both in relation to differences in sequential and simultaneous processing scores and in comparison to the subjects' current IQ scores on the WISC-R. Results are discussed in terms of problems in interpretation of cognitive test scores.

Sex Differences in WISC-III Profiles of Children with High-functioning Pervasive Developmental Disorders

“…A trough on Comprehension, which has repeatedly been reported in previous studies (Freeman et al 1985;Asarnow et al 1987;Szatmari et al 1990;Siegel et al 1996;Ehlers et al 1997;Mayes and Calhoun 2003;Ghaziuddin and Mountain-Kimch 2004;de Bruin et al 2006;Koyama et al 2006;Koyama et al 2007), was confirmed for the HFPDD girls in the present study, suggesting that this unique cognitive pattern is a common deficit in HFPDD. The weakness on Comprehension observed independent of sex is considered to reflect impairment in the social intelligence (Beebe et al 2000) of children with HFPDD, specifically their difficulty understanding social contexts and solving social problems.…”

“…In contrast, strength on Block Design, which has been considered specific to autism or PDD (Freeman et al 1985;Asarnow et al 1987;Szatmari et al 1990;Siegel et al 1996;Ehlers et al 1997;Manjiviona and Prior 1999;Ozonoff et al 2000;Mayes and Calhoun 2003;Ghaziuddin and Mountain-Kimchi 2004;Koyama et al 2006;Koyama et al 2007), was not found in the HFPDD girls in this study. Strength on Block Design in individuals with autism has been considered to be related to their cognitive style, which is based on detail-focused processing, thus supporting a weak central coherence (WCC) hypothesis of autism (Shah and Frith 1993;Happe 1999).…”

“…Our main finding is that although HFPDD girls and boys share similar cognitive profiles in the verbal domain, girls demonstrate a different cognitive profile from boys in the nonverbal domain. The relatively ''even'' profile of the performance subtests in the HFPDD girls is unusual compared with the findings of previous studies that mainly focused on males (Freeman et al 1985;Asarnow et al 1987;Szatmari et al 1990;Siegel et al 1996;Ehlers et al 1997;Manjiviona and Prior 1999;Ozonoff et al 2000;Mayes and Calhoun 2003;Ghaziuddin and MountainKimchi 2004;de Bruin et al 2006;Koyama et al 2006;Koyama et al 2007).…”

“…In those previous studies, lower scores on the Comprehension subtest have repeatedly been reported (Freeman et al 1985;Asarnow et al 1987;Szatmari et al 1990;Siegel et al 1996;Ehlers et al 1997;Mayes and Calhoun 2003;Ghaziuddin and Mountain-Kimchi 2004;de Bruin et al 2006;Koyama et al 2006;Koyama et al 2007), suggesting that HFPDD subjects have significant difficulty understanding social contexts. Higher scores on the Block Design subtest have also been repeatedly identified (Freeman et al 1985;Asarnow et al 1987;Szatmari et al 1990;Siegel et al 1996;Ehlers et al 1997;Manjiviona and Prior 1999;Ozonoff et al 2000;Mayes and Calhoun 2003;Ghaziuddin and Mountain-Kimchi 2004;Koyama et al 2006;Koyama et al 2007), indicating their detail-focused cognitive style, thus supporting the weak central coherence hypothesis of autism (Shah and Frith 1993;Happe 1999). Another common finding is lower scores on the Coding subtest (Freeman et al 1985;Asarnow et al 1987;Szatmari et al 1990;Siegel et al 1996;Ehlers et al 1997;Manjiviona and Prior 1999;Ozonoff et al 2000;Mayes and Calhoun 2003;Ghaziuddin and Mountain-Kimchi 2004;de Bruin et al 2006), which seem to reflect the distractibility, extreme slowness, circumstantiality, and drive for perfection of HFPDD subjects.…”

“…Cognitive features specific to PDD, especially HFPDD, have been intensively examined using the Wechsler intelligence scales (Freeman et al 1985;Asarnow et al 1987;Szatmari et al 1990;Siegel et al 1996;Ehlers et al 1997;Manjiviona and Prior 1999;Ozonoff et al 2000;Mayes and Calhoun 2003;Ghaziuddin and Mountain-Kimchi 2004;de Bruin et al 2006;Koyama et al 2006;Koyama et al 2007). In those previous studies, lower scores on the Comprehension subtest have repeatedly been reported (Freeman et al 1985;Asarnow et al 1987;Szatmari et al 1990;Siegel et al 1996;Ehlers et al 1997;Mayes and Calhoun 2003;Ghaziuddin and Mountain-Kimchi 2004;de Bruin et al 2006;Koyama et al 2006;Koyama et al 2007), suggesting that HFPDD subjects have significant difficulty understanding social contexts.…”